Hira future uncertain

eHealthNews.nz: National Systems & Strategy

Tuesday, 18 June 2024

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NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

New Zealand’s flagship health information sharing programme, Hira, is finishing on 30 June with no money committed to fund further tranches.

Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora says it is considering which aspects of the Hira programme can continue in some way through use of baseline funding.

The May Budget recalled more than $330 million earmarked for data and digital health initiatives over the next five years, including funding for Hira tranche two.

The Vote Health document talks about “rephasing” of the Hira programme and says more than $43 million was carried forward from 2022/23 to 2023/24 only for funding to deliver the Cyber Security programme and Hira tranche 1.

Health Minister Shane Reti says the Government recognises the need to invest in data and digital.

“I am assured that Health New Zealand will continue to progress the recent gains they have made in the sharing of health information amongst consumers and service providers,” he tells eHealthNews.

He says a new 10-year investment plan, expected from Health New Zealand later this year, will mean the Government can make informed decisions about putting resource where it will have the greatest impact.

The cost of the Hira Programme so far has been $52 million.

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The interoperability programme began in 2021 and its services and functionality were to be delivered across three tranches of work through to the end of 2026.

The core aim of programme is to give consumers and whānau access to their health information and develop a NZ patient summary record to be viewed by healthcare providers nationally.

Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora says Hira has put in place key building blocks for future digital health services.

This includes a connector plane and Digital Services Hub, a National Event Management Service (NEMS), healthcare consumer website My Health Record and identity service My Health Account.

The Hira team has also developed API security standards and launched the NZ Health Terminology Service (NZHTS), as well as the NZ Patient Summary.

Leigh Donoghue, chief data and digital, Health NZ says important progress has been made in the sharing of health information amongst consumers, whānau and service providers and the organisation will continue to progress this important kaupapa in 2024/25.

“A specific funding stream for Hira has been stopped through the outcomes of Budget 24, along with removal of other funding contingencies for other data and digital work. These difficult decisions reflected the challenging financial context now and expected ahead,” he tells eHealthNews.

He says more will be shared about the future of Hira soon when Health NZ’s internal budget is finalised.

Digital Health Association chief executive Ryl Jensen says the Budget announcement feels a like a “significant step backwards for New Zealand”.

She says that providing patients and their whānau with a comprehensive view of their entire health record is essential for creating a more connected, efficient, equitable, and functional health system.

“Equally important is enabling clinicians to access critical patient information and improving their workflows, which is vital for the overall functionality and safety of the health system,” she says.

“To hibernate Hira now, when this programme was advancing towards operationalising connectivity and system enablers such as standards, API development for information flow, security, and connecting disparate applications, seems nonsensical.”

Former Hira programme director Ray Delany believes it is likely this indicates a pause to the programme, rather than a cancellation.

“Something of this scale does not get cancelled that easily, but it can be reset and repositioned,” he tells eHealthNews.

“In the short term it puts doubt over the question of shared electronic health records and it does create uncertainty, particularly if you are in the commercial world.”

Former Hira clinical director Becky George says the loss of funding “undermines the visibility and speed with which to achieve the vision of national connection and integration.

“This means our staff are likely to feel undervalued and the burden of admin that they carry feels dismissed” she says.

“Without the funding our health and disability workforce will work with manual processes and siloed systems that impact our consumers negatively for far longer that we hoped for.

“The tech debt continues to the detriment of everybody.”